Buddha: His Life, his Doctrine, his Order c8.52

c8.52

The tree is the cloud-tree: in the clouds the heavenly fluid is stored, and it is guarded by the dark demons; in the hymns of the Veda the powers of light and the powers of darkness fight their great battle for the clouds and the ambrosia which they contain: this is the identical battle of Buddha with the hosts of Mâra. In the cloud-battle the ambrosia (amṛita), which is in the clouds, is won; the enlightenment and deliverance, which Buddha wins, are also called an ambrosia (amṛita); the kingdom of knowledge is the land of immortality (padam amṛitam).